ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Mango Festival was held on Thursday at the Rungis international market in the outskirts of Paris which was attended by a large number of major wholesale fruit sellers and buyers, who not only supply fruit to the local French market but also cater to other countries of Europe.
Spread over an area of 234 hectares, Rungis is among the largest wholesale markets of the world for agricultural and food products, a press release reaching here from Paris said. With a view to introducing Pakistani mangoes in the French market, famous varieties including Sindhri, Chaunsa, and Anwar Rotal were transported from Pakistan for the festival.
A Pakistan pavilion was set up in the market, where mangoes were offered to visitors for taste and given as gifts. Mango drinks were also offered. Speaking on the occasion, the Ambassador of Pakistan to France Moin ul Haque thanked the President of Rungis Stephane LAYANI and Xavier ESPANA, the founder of Rungis market for gracing the event.
He said the festival would hopefully lead to kick-start the export of Pakistani mangoes to France in large quantity. Babur Durrani, CEO of Durrani Associates, which sponsored the shipment of mangoes was also present. The buyers/visitors enjoyed the delicious mangoes and expressed keen interest in exploring possibilities of importing Pakistani mangoes for the French fruit markets.
Meanwhile, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) organized the ‘Mangolicious Culinary Competition’ at a private institution in Lahore as part of its efforts to help promote Pak mango sector. Eight teams, comprising three students each, were required to prepare mango-based dishes in an hour. The students were given away certificates for making mango dishes and beverages. USAID Provincial Director for Punjab Lea Swanson and US Consulate’s Political-Economic Section Chief Ann Mason were the guests at the culinary skills competition. The United States-Pakistan Partnership for Agricultural Market Development (AMD) is promoting the export of Pakistani mangoes to the international markets. Speaking on the occasion, Lea Swanson said the US was committed to increasing opportunities for Pakistani mango growers to the new international markets and helping to maintain compliance with international grading standards and export protocols. She said despite being one of the world’s leading producers of mangoes, Pakistan’s main exports to the global market were less than 10 percent of its total production, adding that USAID wanted to make Pakistani mangoes as competitive as they can be in the international markets. She said USAID launched the US-Pakistan Partnership for Agricultural Market Development in February 2015 to improve the ability of Pakistan’s commercial agriculture and livestock sectors to compete in the international and national markets in the four target product lines: meat, high value and off-season vegetables, mangoes, and citrus. Ms. Swanson congratulated the participating students saying, “We are passionate about celebrating and investing in the incredible talents of Pakistani youth.” The US diplomats also distributed certificates among the participants.
